Save the date – March 24, 2018. On this day, Filipinos nationwide will be observing Earth Hour for the 11th straight year. Its theme, #Connect2Earth, is a campaign to strengthen awareness about biodiversity and climate action.
Earth Hour Flashback
Earth Hour began originally in Sydney on March 31, 2007. The year after, in 2008, Manila joined in. My family and I participated by turning off our house lights. I’ve been trying to participate in some way since then. Initially Earth Hour just involved turning off lights everywhere. Malls and public places began organizing events around this lights-off highlight. But in 2011, Earth Hour launched its theme “Going Beyond the Hour” to encourage all participant cities to do more than just turn lights off for an hour. Today, Earth Hour participants span over 7,000 cities and 180 countries and territories with many sustainable and energy-saving activities year-long. In the Philippines, for example, these Beyond the Hour activities involve:
- The deployment of portable solar lamps to replace dangerous and dirty kerosene lamps in Palawan and Mindoro.
- The sharing of best practices for communities via the One Planet City Challenge.
- The dissemination of climate change solutions via environmental education sessions, training modules, heavy media engagements, and talks.
Continue reading “Earth Hour 2018 is happening on March 24 with its theme #Connect2Earth” →
